Love Letters From the Grave(24)

‘I know,’ cried Muriel. ‘And I’ll still only be twenty. Plenty of years ahead for many more!’

‘Oh, my dear Lord,’ repeated Charlie.

He lost no time in explaining the situation at the factory, and was very glad he did. Not only was he going to get another raise, but there was a good chance that he would get a promotion to the position as assistant manager of the factory's tool and supply rooms, all four of them. If he got that position, it would mean yet another increase in salary, which would help him to not only support his growing family but also allow him to continue saving toward buying a home.

‘That’s wonderful news,’ he told his manager. ‘Muriel will be thrilled. And business must be booming.’

Heathfield nodded. ‘It really is. I’m going to be needing a new payroll manager soon, especially if you keep getting pay rises at this rate. Sanders can’t keep up with the general accounts and sort out all the wages.’ He ran his hand through his hair distractedly. ‘Sometimes we have to run just to keep up with ourselves.’

And Charlie had an idea.

‘Mr Heathfield, would you consider employing another ex-prisoner?’

‘Sure,’ said the manager with a shrug, ‘if he comes as well recommended as you.’

‘He does,’ Charlie assured him. ‘There is one more thing, however. My friend is black.’

Heathfield stared at him for a long moment, then shrugged again. ‘Charlie, if he knows enough about payroll and figures to get me out of this scrape, I don’t care if he’s green with yellow spots. Just get him in as soon as you can.’

‘I will, sir. Thank you.’

Before he could lose another moment, Charlie called the prison and set about finding Amos. By the next day, Charlie had discovered that Amos was living back with his family in the town where he’d committed his crime all those years ago. On returning from the war, he’d found work in a storeroom, and was making a meager living on which to support his wife and their two growing children.

It was two hours’ drive away, but Charlie wasn’t prepared to wait. Borrowing Roger’s car, he took to the open road with a thrill at driving at speed again, and made his way to Corville to track Amos down at his home.

When he opened the door, those familiar eyes gazed at Charlie just as they had decades before, and then the two men embraced like brothers.

‘I didn’t know you were out!’ gasped Amos. ‘How did you get out?’

‘Did you not read my letters? You know me and my letters – I wrote you dozens of messages over the years.’

Amos frowned, puzzled. ‘I got a few when I first landed in the Pacific, but they stopped after a year or so. The guys used to complain that the mail was hit and miss - unlike the Japanese.’

Charlie studied his friend closely. The war had taken its toll on Amos; he could see that. He looked fifteen years older than Charlie rather than six or seven, and life continued to be hard for him and his family, by the looks of it.

Well, all that was about to change.

‘Amos, my friend,’ he said, clapping the man on the arm, ‘if you haven’t read those letters, then we’re going to be here a while. I have a lot – a lot – to tell you.’

‘I ain’t going nowhere,’ said Amos with a grin.

‘Oh, yes, you are.’

Where he’d stay, and how, they weren’t quite sure. But Charlie knew, somehow, that they’d work it out.



It was all settled, and quickly. To celebrate his promotion and Amos’ recruitment to the position of Payroll Manager, Charlie decided to take Muriel out for a night on the town. They headed downtown on Saturday, starting with a matinee movie, then a walk in the downtown rose-garden park, followed by a T-bone steak dinner at the best downtown restaurant. Before they went out on their date, Charlie took his very pregnant wife shopping.

It was evidently a very happy day for Muriel. As she pointed out on several occasions, she was married to a handsome, industrious and capable man; she had a beautiful, healthy daughter; she was on the verge of delivering twins; her husband had bought her a beautiful new coat and hat, which she wore to stares and compliments, on a wonderful date with a loving husband, and their future was very bright. Charlie, too, very much enjoyed his date with his radiant wife, who looked especially beautiful in her new coat, hat and gloves. Life seemed incredibly sweet.

Finally, their twins were born: a healthy boy and girl. Everyone was surprised that it wasn't two boys or two girls. According to the doctor, Muriel had a very difficult time in delivering the twins. He recommended that she follow a program of prescribed medicine and rest as much as possible, and that she abstain from love-making for six months. Charlie, Betty, and Roger pitched in to help as much as they could with taking care of the twins, whom they named Charlotte (Char) and Charles III (Charlie).

As it turned out, Muriel recovered her strength faster than the doctor thought she would, and after a month she was feeling much stronger. The only problem she seemed to have was in nursing the twins. She’d had no trouble in nursing her first born, not moving her onto the bottle and solid foods until she was a little over six-months old. With the twins, however, she tried to nurse them one at a time, both at the same time, and alternating from one breast to the other. For a while it seemed that she was not even making enough milk for the both of them, and she supplemented her milk with bottled formula which meant that Charlie and the others could feed the babies too. Gradually, by the end of the second month, her milk production increased and they were able to settle into a routine.